Breadcrumb

Petitions for a referendum on a different form of governance

Local Government Act 2000 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

Under the above Act, a local council must hold a referendum on whether the council should change to a different form of governance, if at least 5 per cent of the local government electors in that area petition the local council to do so.

All local councils are required to publish each year the number of electors which corresponds to that 5%, on the basis of the electoral registers for the area as at 15 February each year.

The numbers for the purposes of determining the validity of petitions presented before 1 April 2016 for each of the local councils in Oxfordshire are:

Cherwell District Council - 5,368 electors

Oxford City Council - 5,006 electors

South Oxfordshire District Council - 5,371 electors

Vale of White Horse District Council - 4,888 electors

West Oxfordshire District Council - 3,881 electors

Oxfordshire County Council - 24,514 electors

These figures will apply until 31 March 2016 provided that the new figure to be calculated in 2016 is not lower than the numbers published above.

Anyone contemplating organising a petition will need to have regard to the requirements for petitions set out in The Local Authorities (Referendums) (Petitions) (England) Regulations 2011; otherwise the petition may be invalid. Further details may be obtained from the addresses below.

Published by Peter Clark, Proper Officer of Oxfordshire County Council on behalf of: